By Courtney Clark

Chloe Ting’s workouts require minimal preparation and can be done from the comfort of your own home. All that is needed to complete a program is an optional yoga mat and sneakers.

My experience with Chloe Ting

After recovering from a severe iron deficiency, I always felt tired and drained. Even walking up stairs started to become difficult, and that’s when I knew I needed a change. 

So, this past summer when I was stuck at home because I didn’t have my license yet, I took it upon to complete an at-home workout challenge.

It was a program created by Chloe Ting, a fitness influencer who dedicates her time to making at-home workout videos and receives a ton of praise with every video she creates. Chloe even made a website where every video for the program is hyperlinked and free.

What I also found compelling about these workouts is that all that was needed was an optional yoga mat to make the workouts more comfortable.

But I soon grew out of this home workout program when I got my license and started going to the gym. There was nothing wrong with the program, I just wanted to create my own routine, which seems impossible now that our country is in quarantine.

Being stuck inside every day can be repetitive and draining, but people like me are still finding the light in this situation and using it as an opportunity to reinvent themselves. So, because I enjoyed the program, I’ve decided to challenge myself to it again along with others nationwide.

What participants are doing now

Though Chloe wasn’t always popular, after quarantine was enacted and all gyms started to close, people from our school to all over social media, have decided to complete this program to better themselves.

Not only is this great that so many people are bettering their long term health, but working out, alongside healthy eating, is also one of the best ways to build a stronger defense system against the coronavirus.

But although this program is promoting good things and was made with the best intentions, I don’t think people truly understand the purpose of the program.

What to know before completing this program

For one, this program is not made to be completed by itself. Most of the workouts performed in the videos are muscle toning exercises, which means you won’t see as good of results if you don’t do it alongside some type of cardio.

Another thing that is commonly mistaken is that doing a program like Chloe Ting’s means that healthy eating is simply a recommendation since exercise will burn any unnecessary calories you ate. But this is not true.

Dietitians recommend the 80-20 rule, which follows your lifestyle being 80% nutrition and 20% exercise for optimal weight loss results. So just working out will help, and it’s an amazing step towards a healthier life, but nutrition is important too.

But in my opinion, those taking the workout program out of context are far less detrimental to their end goal than those only doing the program for their appearance.

Anyone taking upon this program is doing something great for their entire body and it shouldn’t be demoted to just their outward look. Their success should be that they are bettering their long term health and wellbeing, not that they now look good for the summer.

From a study by sciencedirect.com, in a group of 205 women split into groups of unrestrained healthy eating and those working out for their appearance, the results favored the group that didn’t care how they looked.The appearance-based motives had a tendency to give up or lack interest in working out while the unrestrained-eaters stayed consistently motivated.

But this isn’t to say you shouldn’t work out or give programs like Chloe Ting’s a try if you just want to look better. All I’m saying is that it is better to understand the full benefits of exercising and be encouraged that way, rather than your appearance being your only goal.

So overall, yes, Chloe Ting makes great at home workouts that fit our current situation. Is that to say everyone should try it? Of course not.

If muscle toning exercises put you in complete agony, there are many forms of working out that will get you the same results. From traditional activities such as running to more unique ways like rollerblading, exercise shouldn’t be a punishment, it should be something you have fun with.

So, if you are in desperate need of a workout during quarantine, then sure, give Chole Ting’s two week program a shot. But don’t do it just because everyone else is.